Jaguars' Bradley doesn't let team's record bother him

Comparing the public persona of Jacksonville's Gus Bradley to New England's Bill Belichick, you would think the latter is the one with the losing record. NFL head coaches simply don't sound like Jacksonville's Gus Bradley. He's way too cheerful.

As the former North Dakota State safety said hello to Ohio writers in a conference call, he sounded like he was doing a Frosted Flakes commercial in the way he said, "I'm doing great!"

There are the serial sourpusses, like Tom Coughlin, the droll workaholics, like Belichick, the chip-on-the-shoulder contrarians, like Mike Tomlin, the eyes-bugging-out-intense types, like Jack Del Rio, and the polite but serious aspirants, like Rob Chudzinski.

Pete Carroll, who was Bradley's boss last year, maybe breaks the mold in that he can be very bubbly, but he also can seem rather arrogant.

Bradley, the NFL head coach no one knows, comes off as down-to-earth happy. If he ever wins big, he may become known as the NFL's Man From Glad.

Just how effervescent is the 47-year-old Minnesota native and father of four? Think the Indians' Nick Swisher.

The teams they beat were the so-so Titans and the imploded Texans, but both victories, sandwiched around a home loss to Arizona, were on the road.

Veteran quarterback Chad Henne is infected with Bradley's optimism.

"I think we're only going to get better. We get that first win under our belt, and I think we're going to keep going and they'll come in bunches," Henne said.

Henne said so in September, when the Jaguars were 0-3 and had been outscored 92-28 by the Chiefs, Raiders and Seahawks, under this USA Today headline:

"Is an 0-16 season inevitable for the Jaguars?"

Not now. The No. 1 overall pick in the draft isn't inevitable, either. If, at Cleveland, Bradley's team wins its third straight road game, the Browns will be just one game away from Jacksonville in draft positioning, heading into a game against Belichick.

Page 2 of 3 - The Jaguars tried stability, going from 1995 to 2011 with just two head coaches, Coughlin and Del Rio.

A new owner, Shahid Khan, fired Del Rio shortly after a loss at Cleveland in 2011, then went for just one year — a 2-14 collapse in 2012 — with Mike Mularkey.

Khan's choice for 2013, Bradley, had come in to the NFL from out of the cold. In 2005, the native of Zumbrota, Minn., ended a 10-year run as an assistant coach at North Dakota State by talking Jon Gruden into a job with the Buccaneers. After Gruden fired, Bradley jumped to Seattle to work with head coach Jim Mora in 2009, then, after Mora was dumped, stayed on as defensive coordinator in 2010 under Carroll.

In Jacksonville, the relative unknown, Bradley, was paired with new general manager David Caldwell, another unknown. Caldwell, 39, is a former John Carroll teammate of Josh McDaniels, the New England offensive coordinator the Browns will face next week.

"Dave and I put together a culture," Bradley said.

If the approach was fresh, the record was rotten. The first four home games were blowouts of 28-2 (Chiefs), 45-17 (Seahawks), 24-6 (Chargers) and 42-10 (49ers).

The 49ers debacle took the Jaguars into the bye with an 0-8 record.

"Going through what we did," Bradley said, "really tests your conviction and how strongly you believe in what you're doing."

Bradley has worked through issues great and small.

Blaine Gabbert and Henne have not been Montana and Young.

Not long after former Round 1 pick Eugene Monroe was traded to Baltimore so rookie No. 2 overall pick Luke Joeckel could move in at left tackle, Joeckel suffered a season-ending injury.

Wideout Justin Blackmon, last year's first-round pick, missed the first four games on suspension, put up big numbers when he came back, then was suspended again, this time for at least the rest of 2013.

Those problems were much harder to deal with than wideout Cecil Shorts' recent complaints about not getting the ball enough.

"We got on the same page," Shorts said this week. "I wasn't trying to start anything."

"Cecil's been great one of our strongest competitors," Bradley said of the former Mount Union star. "He's elevated everybody's play around him. I can't say enough good things about him."

It is conceivable good things could happen for the Jaguars in the next month, and the Browns could wind up with a worse record than them.

After the Browns game, Jacksonville's next three are at home against the Texans, Bills and Titans. Bradley seems to honestly believe the plan is working and wins can be had.

"The first Tennessee game (a 29-27 win coming off the bye) validated it," he said. "Every week, we just stayed convicted."

Page 3 of 3 - That's convicted in a cheerful way, not sentenced to an 0-16 way.